Saudi authorities have banned the sale of books by two Islamist authors known to be sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Arabiya reports, citing the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat. The Saudi-owned paper said it has confirmed information that books authored by Saudi cleric Salman al-Odah and his Kuwaiti counterpart Tariq al-Suwaidan were ordered to
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed on Tuesday the formation of the new Palestinian “unity government” which includes the Hamas terrorist group. In a statement, Ban expressed hope that new opportunities for progress towards a two-State solution with Israel will emerge soon, saying the UN had received assurances that the Hamas-Fatah deal would be
Egypt’s former defense minister Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi was officially declared Egypt’s new president on Tuesday, as final results from last week’s vote found him winning more than 96 percent of the vote. Gulf News reported that the Egyptian election commission said that Sisi had gained 23.7 million, or 96.1 percent of the valid votes
Polling stations in Syria opened for presidential elections Tuesday, as political analysts predict that President Bashar Assad will win for a third consecutive presidential term against the backdrop of a bloody civil war. Six other candidates have now announced their intentions to run against Assad, including the first female presidential candidate; this is the
Israel has officially imposed additional sanctions on the Palestinian Authority (PA), Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat reports Tuesday. Senior Palestinian Arab officials told the daily that Israel has decided to cancel the VIP cards allowing entry into Israel for all PA officials except PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, as backlash for Monday's official declaration of the Hamas-Fatah
Israel said on Monday it was "deeply disappointed" by the United States’ readiness to work with a new Palestinian Authority (PA) unity government. "We are deeply disappointed by the comments of the (U.S.) State Department regarding working with the Palestinian unity government," a government official told AFP. "This Palestinian government is a government
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has released an official Israeli response to the swearing-in of the Palestinian Arab "unity" government Monday, after he declared an emergency Cabinet meeting with top ministers to discuss the issue. Both Netanyahu and the ministers agreed not to engage politically with the new government, as part of the policy not
Saudi authorities are cracking down on social media, the Saudi Gazette reports Monday, and are in the process of reviewing the Anti-Cybercrime Law to allow legal proceedings to be filed against social networking sites for allowing accounts which promote adultery, atheism, and homosexuality. The Saudi Anti-Cybercrime Law was enacted by royal decree on March
A bomb attack targeting fans at a soccer match in Nigeria's restive northeast killed at least 40 people on Sunday, a police officer told AFP. "There has been a bomb explosion at a football field this evening and so far more than 40 people have been killed," the officer told the news agency.
Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar issued a rare public statement Sunday, according to BBC News, calling the US's exchange of Islamist terrorist prisoners for an American soldier a "big victory." "I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the entire Afghan Muslim nation," Omar said, in a video clip. The five Afghani Taliban prisoners
